New research finds that on a per-household basis, US broadband usage is 20th …

Share this story

A new broadband survey out from Strategy Analytics shows the US in 20th position when it comes to household broadband use, well behind countries like South Korea, Singapore, and the Netherlands.

The report focuses on broadband penetration by household rather than by person. Many other reports use a per-capita broadband measurement, but Strategy Analytics says that those reports are simply using the wrong data.

"In far too many cases, people are looking at the wrong things," said Strategy Analytics' Ben Piper. "Residential broadband is overwhelmingly consumed on a household basis—not individually. Reporting broadband penetration on a per-capita basis misses the mark, and can provide grossly misleading results."

Using this metric, South Korea tops the list; 95 percent of South Korean households have a broadband connection. No one else comes close to that figure, either. The number two spot on the list is held by Singapore, which has 88 percent household broadband penetration.

The US, with a mere 60 percent household broadband penetration, is in 20th position on the list. Strategy Analytics estimates that the US will fall to 23rd place by the end of the year.

Here are the top 20 countries and their respective household broadband percentages:

South Korea (95%)

Singapore (88%)

Netherlands (85%)

Denmark (82%)

Taiwan (81%)

Hong Kong (81%)

Israel (77%)

Switzerland (76%)

Canada (76%)

Norway (75%)

Australia (72%)

Finland (69%)

France (68%)

United Kingdom (67%)

United Arab Emirates (65%)

Japan (64%)

Sweden (63%)

Estonia (62%)

Belgium (62%)

USA (60%)

To what does Strategy Analytics attribute the phenomenal Internet saturation of South Korea? "Its highly urbanized population, as well as to the existence of a comprehensive government-backed broadband policy."